Finding Unauthorized Faith…

Happy Star WarsWednesday! As I was re-watching The Force Awakens on DVD, I noticed the parallel and opposite treatment of droids between the previous 6 episodes and the latest installment (other than Rey’s ability to understand BB-8).

In Episode 4, the Droids are treated like lifeless slaves. R2D2 and C3P0 are kidnapped, “chained,” and sold to the Skywalkers to work the farm. However, there is a different mentality that takes place in The Force Awakens:

Rey: That’s just a Teedo. Wants you for parts. He has no respect for anyone. Your antenna’s bent.[she kneels down and fixes BB-8’s antenna]

Rey treats BB-8 with the respect of a free, sentient being. An equal. He’s not a slave or an object to her. At first, he’s an annoyance, but then he becomes a friend. One she’s willing to sacrifice a heap-full of food for.

Some people read the Bible and say that it condones slavery. Does it? Really? There is slavery in the Bible, and God gives guidelines on how to treat slaves if you have them (well and with love), but is that the same as His condoning that behavior? I don’t think so.

“Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death. ~ Exodus 21:16 ESV

From my understanding, back in the day, you could sell yourself into slavery to pay a debt or whatever. But that was a personal choice. And even so, in the Old Testament, God says an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, but when He comes into the world as Jesus he shows us what he really meant. Again this is all my interpretation, but I believe that Jesus taught us that we are to look at the Old Testament and realize that none of us can completely obey the law. That, according to the law, we should all be put to death. So, instead of judging one another when we are all guilty, we should live lives of grace and mercy and humility. Like Jesus did.

Remember, he stood up for the woman caught in the act of adultry; he didn’t grab a stone and throw it first though he was the only one there with the right to.

God is love. He wants us to live in Him, to live in Love! Remember that when you study the Bible. It is a redemption story. And with redemption, there is always love.